mattress
Americannoun
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mattresses
plural
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a large pad for supporting the reclining body, used as or on a bed, consisting of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, that contains hair, straw, cotton, foam rubber, etc., or a framework of metal springs.
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a mat woven of brush, poles, or similar material, used to prevent erosion of the surface of dikes, jetties, embankments, dams, etc.
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a layer of concrete placed on bare ground, as to provide a footing; mat.
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a layer of any material used to cushion, protect, reinforce, or the like.
noun
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a large flat pad with a strong cover, filled with straw, foam rubber, etc, and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or as part of a bed
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Also called: Dutch mattress. a woven mat of brushwood, poles, etc, used to protect an embankment, dyke, etc, from scour
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Sometimes shortened to: mat. a concrete or steel raft or slab used as a foundation or footing
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a network of reinforcing rods or expanded metal sheeting, used in reinforced concrete
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civil engineering another name for blinding
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mattress
1250–1300; Middle English materas < Old French < Italian materasso < Arabic maṭraḥ mat, cushion
Explanation
Your mattress is the padded part of your bed that rests on top of the frame or box springs and is covered in a sheet. Some people prefer a soft, squishy mattress, while others like their mattresses firm. Some mattresses have a system of springs inside to provide just the right amount of firmness and bounce when you lie on them. Others are made of a dense kind of foam that supports a sleeper's body comfortably. The earliest mattresses were filled with straw or horse hair, and in many societies people don't sleep on mattresses at all, instead using mats or futons. The Arabic root of mattress is al-matrah, "thing thrown down."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Cooling mattress toppers and bedding that use water or phase change materials may also help.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
That first week, we had a TV and a kind of makeshift conversation pit: a quilt, a mattress, some pillows.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
Deutch is perfect casting for plucky Gail, who commits to bagging Hamm with such gumption that she jumps on a hotel mattress like a little kid.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
"A psychologist just told me that it's part of the process," she said, while her two young daughters play with dolls on a mattress on the grass.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
She brought up a mattress and slept in my room that night, and neither one of us worried about the silence, because there wasn’t that much of it.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
Jurors were told that mattresses were put down at the base of the tower to try to protect him because he was in a "precarious position".
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
In fact, it’s a popular time for discounts, with deals on big-ticket items like mattresses, furniture and appliances.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
"We have nothing. No water, food or mattresses," Waseela Mohamed, a 70-year-old grandmother of seven, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
He put funds into cryptocurrency, and spent money on lavish purchases such as Rolls Royce cars and mattresses costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to prosecutors.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Wedged among mattresses, bed frames, chests, tables, and stacks of cardboard boxes, a big golden dog panted and lurched around, excited by the smells of the woods.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
